change-for-good-Lostdog-dot-co-imageGood news is often considered too soft and unimportant to be valuable in one’s real life. The truth is, good news can create concrete, positive change in any person’s life no matter their background. I’m not talking here about kittens rescued from trees, but compelling stories about humans overcoming tragedy or facing adversity to rescue others.

Uplifting news, though, is difficult to learn to appreciate for some. The urge to look, rather, to the sensational feels more urgent — popular media having fed the habit for decades. But, it turns out, there is an evolutionary basis for that. Being more aware of possible danger in the bushes was how we survived being eaten by tigers. But scientists now have shown that we can ‘rewire our brains’ to great benefit by resolving to focus on things we appreciate, instead of things we abhor.

In my experience, since I began 25 years ago to refocus my thoughts on the positive, while training myself to release the negative, I’ve experienced less sickness, less misfortune, less loss, less failure, less crime, less fear and futility, while attracting more of all their opposites.

Of course that is anecdotal, but it seems to me that every thought, every feeling, is a magnet, and life delivers exactly a match in return, for better or worse. Many people have experienced this principle. A leading MD and surgeon, now an author and teacher, Dr. Christiane Northrup, calls it the Law of Attraction and says that we create the state of our body by the thoughts we think. “Every thought we think changes our biochemistry. Your hormones are all affected by your thoughts. Pay attention to things that bring you joy. When I read the newspaper, I look for the good news.”

Young people are learning how positive thinking can directly affect performance and happiness. A positive psychology course at Harvard in 2006 was the most popular class on campus with around 850 students enrolled.

The Good News Network is an extremely important initiative,” said psychologist Tal Ben-Shahar who led that class. “I recommend that each person makes it a habit to visit the website at least once a day. Positive information benefits us emotionally, physically, and mentally. It can contribute in a meaningful way to a happier and healthier life.”
Letters from readers testify to the positive outcomes they’ve experienced since reading the Good News Network. Not a small benefit is improved health: Researchers at the Harvard University School of Public Health found that optimism cuts the chances of developing heart disease as well as the rate of lung-decline as we age.

For most of us, having been bombarded with negative news for years, it becomes all the more valuable to invest every day in our health, peace, and prosperity by building some habits that reinforce a positive attitude about our world. Joining the Good News Network® is a great first step.

Visiting our Web site is a little like taking a flashlight into a cluttered closet. You begin finding valuable things you didn’t know you were looking for, useful in ways you can’t yet perceive. Additionally, your mind, like the closet, benefits from a good cleaning and rearranging. The benefits good news can bestow on the heart of your real life are compelling. GNN is turning on the lights to help you reap that treasure.

Geri Weis-Corbley
2005 (Updated in 2014)

Image credit: Change for Good/LostDog, iPhone cases

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